Brand New– Feed Help!

[Jellybean2015]

Hey all,
We just adopted a bunny from a family that wasn’t taking very good care of him. Everything happened pretty suddenly, and I am on an immersion program for bunny care 101!
Here’s the problem, the previous owners had been feeding hay, which is all good from what I read, but also a gerbil/hamster food with all kinds of seeds and whole corn in it, which from what I am reading is terrible! Plus, I think they were giving him WAY too much, his feed bowl was half full of the stuff, whereas from what I’m reading he should only get a few tablespoons of rabbit pellets/day (he’s a dwarf) let alone such rich, fatty fare! Our bunny (Jellybean) is definitely fat, though not obese, and looks perfectly healthy to me, but obviously I want to get him on a better diet ASAP.
So, two questions. First, we live in a tiny remote town in Alaska, and I can’t just go to the feed store and get rabbit pellets. Which is probably why the last owners were feeding the wrong stuff. I’ll have to order it, and it could take awhile to get here.
In the meantime, I am looking at the ingredients of better quality rabbit pellets, and I have most of the bulk ingredients like alfalfa pellets, wheat, peas and oats. I even have kelp powder, nutritional yeast and food grade diotomaceous earth (I mix my own chicken feed). As long as I continue feeding mostly timothy hay, can I mix my own “pellets” while I wait for the mail order stuff?
Second question, it looks like you are supposed to do dietary changes very slowly. I really don’t want to keep feeding him that hamster food, but do I need to wean him off slowly? How slow? Any info in this regard would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!!!!

[LBJ10]

Not sure how you would form the pellets if you tried to make your own. Definitely an interesting idea. Alfalfa is okay if your bunny is young, but adults need timothy or another grass hay. No oats, oats are fattening and shouldn’t be in rabbit food.

The hamster food needs to go now. I would not do any weaning. Seeds pose enough of a threat that I wouldn’t risk it (i.e. danger of impaction). If pellets are nowhere to be found, then your bunny will do fine with hay and veggies. How old is your bunny? If he is over 12 weeks, he can start having veggies now. You will want to introduce them slowly and one at a time though.

When choosing a pellet, you will want to find something that meets the following requirements:

Recommended Nutritional Value
Fiber 18% minimum (20 -25% best)
Fat 1 – 2% max
Protein 12 – 14% max (long-haired breeds may need higher)
Calcium 1% max

Avoid pellets with nuts & dried fruit. That’s like putting M&M’sj on your salad everyday. Stick with pellets that are Timothy based. Some alfalfa based pellets do have a high fiber content, but most are too high in calories, protein, and calcium for many adult rabbits. Our personal favorite is Oxbow Bunny Basics T Essentials Adult rabbit Food

From the BB website.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Since you have to order and wait, can you continue with his diet as it was? You could pick out the junk bits and just feed the pellets-with loads of hay (which is good) in the meantime? That way you aren’t making a sudden change and doing the impossible (somehow making pellets )

You could start introducing vegetables now while you wait too

[JackRabbit]

I’m with LBJ on making a clean cut with the hamster food. Hay and salad will suffice (if bunny has been introduced to salad) until you can get quality pellets. Find a good brand (Oxbow is pretty common on here). Timothy based pellets are best, if your bunny is at least 4 months old you would be transitioning again soon so you can go ahead with timmy pellets now. Shipping won’t be cheap, but find the quickest shipping vendor and place the order.

Transitioning is usually the best way to go, but sometimes it just isn’t feasible or isn’t in the best interest of the bunny.

[Jellybean2015]

Hey all, thanks for the replies.
I found rabbit pellets in town! They probably aren’t the best, I think they are alfalfa based. But they will be better than hamster food while I wait for some better stuff!
Cold turkey was my instinct too, but I just wanted some back-up on that, thanks.
FYI, when I was imagining approximating pellets, I wasn’t thinking I would form actual pellets, but rather feed all the ingredients as is. That’s what I do for my chickens, and it works great. I might eventually like to try that for Jellybean, but I don’t know…. Rabbits sound a lot more delicate than chickens. Chickens don’t get tummy aches At least not that I’ve noticed.

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